According to googletranslate's Arabic, bousfer means "bousfer," aka not a real Arabic word. بصفر is "with zero" and بسفير is "with ambassador." In Darija, the dialect of Arabic that Moroccans speak, بوسفر (bousfer) means something entirely different, and perhaps it doesn't exist in Modern Standard Arabic. I didn't even know this word existed in Darija until tonight. Perhaps I have the spelling of the word wrong, but the neighborhood confirmed بوسفر to me.
So what is bousfer? I'm still not quite sure. My friend, Karima, has bousfer. So she went to see a lady who does bousfer. Having bousfer is not something one is ashamed of because it's quite common. When we broke fast together, Karima took western medicine that seemed to target her stomach.
The very country-looking lady who does bousfer learned her trade from her grandma. Not everyone can do bousfer; it takes a special person to be qualified. A bousfer is kind of like a doctor.
Bousfer entails Karima to see this lady three days in a row. Yesterday, Karima bought a razor blade, which the lady keeps in her small coin purse. The lady sucks on what looks like a flat, plastic, mini-donut. Karima removes her head scarf, and the lady hisses/spits on her arms, neck, and legs. Then, she pokes Karima's legs and hands with the razor blade. Karima's face shows pain during this process.
If Karima bleeds, her bousfer has left her. Last night, she bled a lot, and she showed me her tiny scars. Before knowing what I'd witness, I thought, Oh, perhaps this is some sort of traditional acupuncture. She didn't bleed tonight. She will return to the lady's modest home on the outskirts of town tomorrow.
The lady offered to do bousfer on me, but I politely declined. After this session, Karima assured me that the razor is just for her, and it will be discarded tomorrow night (check, mini-health lesson completed). Apparently, I'm not able to learn how to do bousfer.
So, that's bousfer. The neighborhood wants to know what we call bousfer in English. Any suggestions on what to tell them?
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dunno about the spitting part, but the cutting part sounds like blood letting...ancient. makes me think of the rites that Shah wrote about - you dont want to scoff too much...
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